“We
feel very fortunate to have won today’s game. They are certainly
an outstanding ballclub that presented a lot of problems in the running game
and bunting game that we had to defend. Anthony Tomey
(our starter) pitched an outstanding game. He got a little tired,
and I tried to stay with him as long as possible. His pitch count
got pretty high, so I started making pitching changes, and unfortunately
I picked the wrong guy to start with, but we’re excited about playing
the next game.”

On Nebraska-SMS game

“I’m
hoping they play until midnight—20-some innings tied.”

On Coastal Carolina’s comeback

“We
were comfortable when Anthony was in there. When he got tired making
that move was something that had to be done. We had a little bit
of a roller-coaster of emotion there—from comfortable, to nervous.
We kind of have a flair for the dramatic and we made it dramatic.”

Catcher Brad Hrovat

On game-winning hit

“I wasn’t
swinging the bat real well all game and I just tried to stay middle
to right side and just drive it. I was just hoping it would get
through there. My teammates wanted to get that game over with.”

On EMU’s offense

“We’ve
been scoring a lot of runs all year and it’s never been a problem
with our offense. We always get timely hits.”

Coastal Carolina Head Coach Garry Gilmore

“We
picked the wrong time to play two of our worst offensive games all
year. The meat of our order did not produce in either game. We were
behind in games and then you can’t gamble on the bases and we can’t
do some things that are the way we play. Give their guy (starting
pitcher Anthony Tomey) credit—he kept
spinning that breaking ball up there, and we kept hitting it in
the ground. You just have to give their team credit. They played
better today, that’s the bottom line. It’s frustrating.”

On the seven-run eighth inning

“We
didn’t hit a ball hard that whole inning. We had three or four seeing-eye
hits in there. Everything else we hit all day in key situations
we hit right at an infielder and they turned double plays.”

On weekend

“The
opponents executed and we didn’t execute when we had our opportunities.
It’s frustrating when you’re out there and your offense continues
to sputter and sputter. It gives you no ray of hope out there. It’s
a shame people out here didn’t see it, but we are a lot better than
this.”